Former NFL insider Dianna Russini has continued to make the headlines during the offseason as additional details of her alleged relationship with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel continue to emerge.
The fallout from the alleged affair caused Vrabel to miss Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft and Russini to resign from her job at The Athletic.
The Athletic Staff Questions Drawn Out Dianna Russini Probe Amid Mike Vrabel Scandal
After initially defending Russini when Page Six published pictures of the reporter and Vrabel at the adults-only resort in Arizona on April 7, The Athletic’s executive editor Steven Ginsberg changed tack and promised that an internal investigation would be conducted into the matter. Then, days later, Russini resigned.
Page Six reporter Oli Coleman revealed on Sunday that staffers at The Athletic and New York Times (which owns the outlet) are concerned over the drawn-out investigation into Russini’s conduct, which has been ongoing for over two months.
“Some inside the New York Times building are beginning to wonder what’s taking so long with the Dianna Russini investigation, we’re told, but top editors have reiterated promises that it’s coming. Though they say a report is still ‘weeks” away,'” Coleman wrote.
“But two months later, Russini’s colleagues still don’t have answers and insiders tell us that, while the announcement of the probe quelled some concerns, the long wait is beginning to raise them anew,” Coleman added. “Now we’re told Ginsberg addressed the matter at a routine all-hands meeting of Athletic staffers last week.”
Here’s what Ginsberg reportedly told the staff: “It’s going to take a few more weeks. There’s just a lot to go through, and we obviously want to take our time and be careful doing that. We will update everybody when we get to the end of that. We’ve also said that if we find anything that needs to be corrected, we will correct it along the way.”
Even after Russini’s resignation, details have continued to emerge, with Page Six posting pictures of the pair kissing in a bar in New York in 2020. Also, TMZ posted a clip of the Patriots coach and the former New York Times employee on a private boat trip in Tennessee five years ago, when Russini was pregnant with her first child and Vrabel was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
After Russini resigned from The Athletic, she shared her resignation letter online.
“I have come to this decision with deep sadness but with clarity about what is right for me, my family, and the work I have spent my career building,” Russini wrote. “You and I have already publicly addressed the recent attacks against me, and I have nothing to add publicly to what we have said. I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published.
“When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts. Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete.
“I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”
It remains to be seen if Russini will get another gig as an NFL insider after the scandal. Recently, PFSN’s NFL analysts weighed in on what’s next for Russini and whether she will work in the industry again.
